2023 is known as the "first year of AI", and 2024 is called the "first year of humanoid robots" by many **. In 2023, the humanoid robot products of international manufacturers represented by Tesla will continue to make breakthroughs, and more than 10 domestic manufacturers will release humanoid robot-related products. In November 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Guiding Opinions on the Innovation and Development of Humanoid Robots", proposing that by 2025, China should initially establish an innovation system for humanoid robots, break through a number of key technologies such as "brain, cerebellum, and limbs", expand the application of special, manufacturing, people's livelihood services and other scenarios, and nurture a number of new businesses, new models, and new formats. Humanoid robots will become an important direction for future industry and park operations.
1. Characteristics and applications of humanoid robots
Humanoid robots are intelligent robots with similar body structure and movement methods (bipedal walking, two-handed cooperation, etc.) to humans, and are the culmination of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, high-end manufacturing, and new materials, and are expected to become disruptive products after computers, smartphones, and new energy vehicles.
Compared with ordinary robots, humanoid robots have more complex structures, sensing, driving and control systems, and have human-like perception, decision-making, behavior and interaction capabilities, which are known as the final form of artificial intelligence. Humanoid robots can achieve close interaction with human tools and the environment, and assist or even replace human production and life activities to a large extent.
Humanoid robots are divided into six levels from L0 to L5 according to the degree of intelligence, and humanoid robots are currently transitioning from L3 to L4. L3 is capable of perception, using sensors to obtain environmental information, and being able to autonomously recognize, understand, and feedback preset actions. L4 is someone who has a certain cognitive ability and is able to reason and complete tasks autonomously through observation, measurement, presetting, etc., without frequent human intervention.
Humanoid robots will be an important industrial field for cultivating new quality productivity in China, enabling new industrialization and new lifestyles, and supporting the construction of a modern industrial system. At present, humanoid robots are mainly used to assist in scientific research, personal care, education, social networking and other fields, and some models have been commercialized to perform simple tasks in scenarios such as home services, medical care, and manufacturing.
From a global point of view, the market demand potential for humanoid robots is huge, and there will be broad application scenarios in intelligent manufacturing, intelligent services, and human-machine collaboration in the future. Musk said that Tesla's long-term value will mainly come from humanoid robots, and the demand for humanoid robots will reach 100-20 billion units.
2. Analysis of the industrial chain of humanoid robots
Compared with general robots, humanoid robots are similar in the composition of core components, and the structure of humanoid robots is also more complex due to the improvement of requirements such as bipedal walking and two-handed collaboration. For example, the second-generation Optimus Prime robot designed by Tesla is equipped with higher precision actuators and sensors, a 2-degree-of-freedom drive neck, a faster response 11-degree-of-freedom dexterous hand, a tactile sensor (10 fingers), an actuator integrated electronics and wiring harness, a foot force torque sensor, and an articulated toe.
From the perspective of the composition of the industrial chain, humanoid robots are mainly divided into core components and functional components in the upstream, system integration and robot ontology manufacturing in the midstream, and terminal products and system applications in the downstream. The midstream is to integrate upstream components into subsystems, combining different mechanical structures to form different types of robot bodies; The downstream is to combine the robot body with the integrated system to form terminal products for different application scenarios.
From a technical point of view, humanoid robots mainly include four core modules: perception system, intelligent AI system, motion control system, and structural unit.
Perception system: equivalent to the human sensory organ, responsible for data collection and environmental cognition, mainly involving (vision, sound, radar, pressure sensing, light sensing) sensors and piezoelectric components.
Intelligent AI system: including memory, intelligent chip and operating system responsible for data processing, equivalent to the brain, cerebellum and neuron of the human body, involving software algorithms, controllers, Ethernet, high-speed connectors, etc., responsible for driving the actuator of the robot to achieve the required actions and tasks.
Motion control system: including energy management system and action execution system (reducer, servo motor, controller, screw rod, etc.), which is equivalent to human limbs, and makes corresponding actions according to the instructions given by the decision-making layer in the intelligent AI system.
Structural unit: including lightweight aluminum alloy and wear-resistant carbon fiber structural parts used to support the robot body, which is equivalent to human bones; The engineering plastics and resin materials used for coating are equivalent to the human body**; The polyurethane filler used to protect the internal components of the cushion is equivalent to the peritoneum of the human body.
3. Segmentation industry opportunities for humanoid robots
China's recently released "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Future Industries" regards humanoid robots as the first place in innovative landmark products, and proposes to break through core technologies such as high torque density servo motors, high dynamic motion planning and control, bionic perception and cognition, intelligent dexterous hands, and electronic technology, focusing on promoting the development and application of products in the fields of intelligent manufacturing, home services, and special environmental operations. Humanoid robots are expected to become the next phenomenal consumer electronics product leading the wave of scientific and technological innovation, bringing a wide range of industrial opportunities to the development of the park.
1. Artificial intelligence
The key technologies mainly involve two aspects: one is the humanoid robot "brain" based on the large artificial intelligence model, which enhances the ability of environmental perception, behavior control and human-computer interaction; The second is to control the "cerebellum" of humanoid robot movement, develop a motion control algorithm library, and establish a network control system architecture.
The accelerated application of AI large models will improve the intelligent process of humanoid robots, such as language large models that can achieve human-like natural language interaction, and multi-modal large models that can greatly enhance the vision of humanoid robots and achieve human-like environmental interaction. Technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Meta have joined the exploration of this technical route to develop related software algorithms.
The related hard technologies involve AI processor chips, memory, etc. AI processor chips can support deep neural network learning and accelerated computing, and have a performance improvement of multiple times compared to GPUs and CPUs.
2. Precision machinery
The key technologies mainly involve two aspects: one is the key technology group of "robotic limbs", including humanoid robotic arms, dexterous hands and legs and feet; The second is the key technology group of "machine body", which needs to break through technologies such as lightweight bones, high-strength body structure, and high-precision sensing.
There are many types of joints in the precision mechanical system of humanoid robots, including linear joints, rotary joints and spherical joints. Each joint has a precise mechanical structure, such as a rotary joint composed of a frameless motor, a harmonic reducer, a double encoder, a torque sensor, an angular contact bearing, a crossed roller bearing, etc.
The most commonly used in precision mechanical systems are all kinds of precision reducers, as the precision transmission device of humanoid robots, usually 1:1 with the motor. Because the structure of the humanoid robot is closer to the humanoid, the force on each joint is more complex, and the requirements for the reducer load and motor response speed are higher.
3. Perception device
The perception equipment of humanoid robots is mainly a variety of sensors with different functions, which can be divided into internal sensors and external sensors, the internal sensor is a sensor used to detect the state of the robot itself, and the external sensor is a sensor used to detect the external environment and conditions. The most important of these are vision sensors and tactile sensors.
The key technology of machine vision is all kinds of vision sensors, which are used for environmental perception, object recognition and tracking, facial expression and body movement grabbing, etc., visual sensors include 3D vision sensors, multi-modal cameras, lidar, multi-eye vision, etc. The 3D vision sensor is mainly composed of a depth engine chip, an optical imaging module, a laser projection module, and other electronic devices and structural parts.
The key technology of electronic technology is all kinds of flexible tactile sensors, which can realize the detection of contact force, temperature, humidity, vibration, material, soft and hard and other characteristics with the environment, and help humanoid robots directly perceive the external environment. The key technologies of flexible tactile sensors include material technology and processing technology, and PEEK materials have become important materials for the development of flexible tactile sensors.
4. End products
From the perspective of terminal products, humanoid robots have not yet been industrialized, most of the products are in the stage of technology research and development and product iteration, and the current cost of Tesla's Optimus Prime robot products is about 100,000 US dollars. A small number of products have achieved a certain degree of implementation based on specific functional requirements, such as UBTECH's launch of products such as Jimu, an educational intelligent programming robot, and CRUZR, a commercial service robot.
The terminal products of humanoid robots involve the manufacturing of general machine platforms and the data fusion combined with downstream application scenarios, and from the perspective of national policies, three types of directions: special fields, manufacturing scenarios, people's livelihood and key industries are mainly encouraged. Special environment applications are oriented to the needs of harsh conditions and dangerous scene operations; The manufacturing scenario focuses on key manufacturing areas such as 3C and automobiles, and builds humanoid robot demonstration production lines and factories; People's livelihood and key industries involve people's livelihood fields such as medical care and housekeeping, as well as key industries such as agriculture and logistics.